The Bible mentions a number of places where the departed dead go. It mentions heaven, paradise, Sheol, the grave, the pit, Hades, Abraham’s bosom, Gehenna, the abyss, the lake of fire, and Tartarus. What do these terms mean? In this examination of where the unrighteous dead go after they die, we aren’t concerned about heaven. So we will only discuss heaven and paradise as it relates to our subject. I think your questions would include, what is hell, where is it, who goes to hell, and how long are they there?
First, what is Sheol? Sheol is a Hebrew word and is equivalent to the Greek word Hades (Act 2:27; Ps 16:10). It is translated hell in Deu. 32:22; Ps 9:17; 55:15; 139:8; Pr 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:11,24; 23:14; 27:20; Is 14:9; Eze. 31:15-17; 32:21,27; Am 9:2; Hab 2:5. It is also translated pit in Num 16:30,33. Further, it is translated grave in Gen 37:35; 42:38; 44:29,31; 1 Sa 2:6; 1 Ki 2:6,9; Job 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; 21:13; 24:19; Ps 6:5; 30:3; 31:17; 49:14,15; 88:3; 89:48; 141:7; Pro 30:16; Ecc 9:10; Song 8:6; Hos 13:14. It is transliterated Sheol in 2 Sa 22:6; Job 11:8; 17:16; 26:6; Ps 16:10; 18:5; 86:13; 116:3; Pro 1:12; Is 5:14; 14:11,15; 28:15,18; 38:10,18; Is 57:9; Jon 2:2. Also, there is the lowest, taghtee, Sheol in Deu 32:22; Ps 63:9 (lower parts of the earth); 86:13; Notice the context of Eze 31:16-18.
What conclusions can we make when we read all of the above Scripture thoroughly? Here’s what I think we can conclude. Sheol is the realm of the dead (Pro 7:27). It is deep in the earth (Deu 32:22). At the foundations of the mountains (Job 11:8; Ps 139:8). Higher than heaven contrasted with deeper than Sheol (Am 9:2). Digging down to Sheol contrasted with climbing to heaven. One part is specifically designated as lower Sheol.
All men in general (Job 7:9; Ps 89:48), the wicked (Num 16:30-33; Job 24:19; Ps 9:17; 31:17), and the righteous (Gen 37:35) go to Sheol in the O.T. There is very little description of Sheol. To the anguished it represents relief (Job 14:13). To the ancients, it was completely cut off from the existence of the living on earth. It represented the cessation of his earthly life with all of its accomplishments for the individual (Ecc 9:10; Ps 6:5; Isa 38:18). Conscious existence in Sheol is portrayed in Isa 14:9-15 and Eze 31:15-17; 32:21, although it is brought out clearly first in Lk 16.
Sheol is portrayed as a sort of fortress with bars, gates, chambers, and keys (Job 17:16; Ps 18:5; Pro 7:27; Jon 2:2). An unidentified group of beings called the r’phaeem also exist in Sheol (Pro 9:18; Isa 14:9). Sheol is in some way, perhaps even physically, connected with abaddon, the abyss of the N.T. (Job 26:6; Pro 15:11; 27:20; Rev 9:11). Although man has no power to deliver himself from Sheol, Yahweh is able (Isa 2:6; Ps 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 13:14).
What is Hades? The following passages are a complete concordance of the word. (Mat. 11:23; 16:18; Lk 10:15; 16:23; Act 2:27,31; Rev 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14. This is what I conclude after I studied the above Scripture passages on Hades thoroughly: Hades is talked about consistently in a negative way. The soul went to Hades while the flesh would see corruption (Act 2:27,31). According to Christ’s account of Hades in Lk 16, the rich man’s body was buried, but he went to Hades (23). Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man, all were conscious. The rich man was tormented in Hades (23) because: He sinned (Deu 15:7-17; Ps 112:9; Pro 19:17; Mat 5:7; Lk 12:20,21). He didn’t believe God’s law (29,30). There was a good part where Lazarus was in bliss with Abraham and a place of torment where the rich man was in torment. There was an impassable gulf between these two places. Some who had been in Hades before Christ died and was resurrected were in a good part of Hades.
Gehenna, Tartarus and the lake of fire are all words or phrases that describe what we think of as Hell.
The following passages are a complete concordance of the word, Gehenna. Mat 5:22,29,30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mk 9:43,45,47; Lk 12:5; Jam 3:6.
The following passages are a complete concordance of the word, abyss. Lk 8:31; Ro 10:7 (Deu 30:13); Rev 9:1,2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3.
Tartarus is a little different. It seems to be a place where the fallen angels were kept. I mean those angels who went into the daughters of men at the time before the flood. Only the verb is used in the New Testament. 2 Pe 2:4. The BGD Greek Lexicon explains Tartarus thus. “Tartarus, thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out, was so regarded in Jewish apocalyptic as well.” Durant records (V.2, p.99), “Hesiod’s mythology . . . . Out of the mating of . . . Uranus and Ge . . . came a race of Titans . . . . Uranus liked them not, and condemned them to gloomy Tartarus. . . . The Titans captured Olympus . . . (But when Zeus grew up, he) plunged the Titans back into the bowels of the earth.”
The lake of fire is what I would call Hell, if I used that term. It is used in Rev 14:10,11; 19:20; 20:10,14,15; 21:8. Fire used with other words and phrases: Gehenna (Mat 5:22; 18:9); Wailing and gnashing of teeth (Mat 13:37-42,47-50); Eternal (Mat 18:8; 25:41-46; Jud 7); Not quenched (Mk 9:43-48); Indignation (Heb. 10:27) and tormented (Rev. 14:10,11).
After you look at this material, I will be glad to answer any of your questions.
In Christ,
Bob Hill